Montgomery County private school teacher charged with abuse

Montgomery County police on Thursday charged a former female teacher at a Rockville private school with carrying on a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student, authorities said.

Ashley Jean Campbell (Courtesy Montgomery County police)

In a statement, Montrose Christian Chancellor Ken Fentress said Campbell no longer teaches at the school and noted that the alleged incidents did not take place on school property.

Fentress wrote that administrators learned of the allegations on Feb. 3 and immediately notified police. “Montrose Christian is fully cooperating with authorities,” he wrote, and is “requesting prayer for all involved.”

According to police, Campbell began to have sex with the student in the fall of 2010. “He and Campbell would drive in her vehicle to a park in Montgomery County where they would engage in sexual intercourse. All of the events occurred in Campbell’s vehicle off of school property and after school hours,” police said in the news release.

The relationship lasted until January of this year. On Feb. 3, school officials received an anonymous email about a teacher and a student. The school immediately notified police, who launched an investigation, officials said.

Campbell turned herself into to police Thursday morning and was released on bond, police said.

Dan Morse covers courts and crime in Montgomery County. He arrived at the paper in 2005, after reporting stops at the Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun and Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is the author of "The Yoga Store Murder."